1890s W.E. Temlett The Apollo Model No 4 Zither 5-String Banjo

Overview: Zither banjos (of the British style, with guitar tuners at the headstock, one unused tuner, and a tunneled 5th string) are available but rare in the States. This one is nicer-grade than normal, made in London, and plays beautifully thanks to ministrations from Jose. It's got snazzy inlay, good-quality hardware, and an excellent look and feel.

Tone: It's bright, clean, and snappy with good attack. It will cut easily in its own register in a smaller, old-timey setting. Traditionally, these would be strung with a mix of gut and wire strings, but these days we simply string them up as "classical banjos" or "classic banjos" over here -- strung with all-Nylgut (as seen here) or all-nylon sets.

Feel: It's pretty typical for the time -- medium-heft and with a C/V hybrid back profile and flat board. Due to a refret with jumbos, it plays like a modern instrument and is very easy to handle.

Interesting features: While I sometimes find the zither-style rims a little frustrating due to instability issues (at the rim) that need to be corrected, Temlett fit a dowel through the rim and into the neck heel like a normal banjo and so there's lengthwise reinforcement through the rim which helps a lot. The whole "zither banjo" mechanism and head floating on its own tensioner gadget/tonering and suspended in a rim is interesting in itself, too! Add to this choice woods -- rosewood veneer for the rim/resonator, mahogany for the neck -- and spiffy inlay along the side of the neck and on the fretboard, and you have a sharp looker. Note that it's very common for zither banjos to have 6 tuners for 5 strings. One tuner is left unused.

Repairs included: Jose did a killer job planing the neck and refretting it (along with some heavy-handed level/dressing) to remove warp in the neck. A lot of zither banjos get crazily-warped necks from "folk boom" players over-stringing them and then leaving them in an attic for decades. He then reset the neck angle and set it all up. I helped him button-up some structural stuff in a couple places (we added a tension screw at the back of the heel to keep the joint locked nicely and one under the tailpiece area to lock the end of the dowel nicely) and poured-on advice, but he persevered and the end result is a spot-on player that's ready for the next century of use.

• Weight: 4 lbs 4 oz
• Scale length: 26 1/8"
• Nut width: 1 5/16"
• Neck shape: medium C/soft V
• Board radius: flat
• Head diameter: 7 3/4"
• Resonator diameter: 10 1/2"
• Depth overall at rim: 2 1/8"
• Rim wood: ply maple
• Tonering: integral
• Bridge: maple/ebony vintage
• Fretboard: ebonized somethingorother
• Neck wood: mahogany
• Action height at 12th fret: 3/32” overall (fast, spot-on)
• String gauges: Nylgut medium, plain low D
• Neck relief: straight
• Fret style: jumbo

Condition notes: It's original except for the frets, bridge, an older replacement head, and a couple of screws added for stability at the back of the heel and near the tailpiece. There' wear and tear throughout the finish but it's average and does not distract. There was an old bit of "blowout" of the veneer/seam at the back of the rim/resonator near the tailpiece side and it's been filled and cleaned-up. There's a bit of fill at the heel/rim joint from having knocked the angle back some during setup.

It comes with: It has an old, original, bottom-load chip case.

Consignor tag: NLJH